2025 Nissan GT-R could be final R35 before retirement

Now that the Kia Stinger, Audi R8, and Audit TT are gone, we're pretty sure the Nissan GT-R takes the crown as the nameplate with the longest tenure on death row. According to a story in Japanese buff book Mag X (translated), we might know Godzilla's execution date on March 14. The report says that's when Nissan will announce the 2025 model year is the last for the once-titanic coupe, and that the automaker is making just 1,500 of them to emphasize the final flourish. Mag X didn't specify this as a global extinction event; however, it did write that "the manufacturer explained to dealers, 'We have decided to discontinue production because there will be many parts that cannot be manufactured in the future.'" If "many parts" can't be made, that sounds like a once-and-for-all issue; it's not like Nissan is sourcing huge batches of market-specific parts for a vehicle that hasn't been on sale in Australia since 2021, in Europe since 2022, that skipped the U.S. market in 2022, and that sold 390 units here last year. In Japan, the car's largest market, the Nissan web site indicates "Orders for the 2024 NISSAN GT-R model have been discontinued as the number of orders has reached the planned sales volume."

Of the alleged 1,500 to come off production lines for 2025, 300 are said to be the Nismo trim. The carmaker sold 1,341 units of the GT-R around the world last year, including two zombie examples in Germany and Switzerland, so 1,500 units provides small cushion against buyers who'll line up to get the final model year, especially if Nissan decides to do create a special configuration beyond badges and graphics. 

If this comes to pass, so ends a bittersweet tale 18 years in the making, the R35 having gone into production in December 2007. Designers did their best in applying six facelifts of varying intensity since then and engineers ladled in more power, taking the twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 from 480 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque of the initial 2009 model year to 565 hp and 467 lb-ft today (or 600 hp and 487 lb-ft for the Nismo). 

If and when there's an R36, Nissan product boss Ivan Espinoza said it will require solid-state batteries to satisfy the performance criteria. Espinoza noted an R36 needs "to wait until the ASSB [‘all solid state battery’] is out, it’s stable and it’s ready, so we can go. With the density improvement, we can deliver a much better packaging that improves the aero and the overall behavior of the car while maintaining the 2+2 layout." To go along with that, Top Gear characterized the future vision as creating two GT-Rs, a "friendly" daily driver and a performance monster "entirely dialed in for the track." Below that would come the Z, and below that would come "a new, more affordable entry-level sports car" that gets it own Nismo version. 

The Yokohama maker plans to debut its first EV with a solid state battery for mass production in 2028. Keep the 1,341-hp Hyper Force Concept that Nissan took to the 2023 Japan Mobility Show as inspiration for what's ahead. And stay tuned March 14 for possible word on what that might be.

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